Cowlitz County, WA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

060, and otherwise holds them to the privileges and restrictions set out in Title 11. 400. Subsection A makes it unlawful for a pedestrian to walk along and upon an adjacent roadway anywhere a sidewalk is provided, meaning the sidewalk is mandatory once it exists. Subsection B covers the far more common rural situation, a county road without a sidewalk: a pedestrian must, when practicable, walk only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder, facing oncoming traffic, and must step clear of the roadway when a vehicle approaches from the opposite direction.

This is a facing-traffic rule, not a crosswalk-only crossing statute; the code text as adopted does not carry a distinct provision criminalizing crossing a street outside a marked crosswalk between intersections. Both sections trace to Ordinance 3345, adopted November 27, 1973, and remain unchanged since. Because Title 11 covers county roads generally rather than incorporated city streets, these rules apply specifically to roadways in unincorporated Cowlitz County; Longview, Kelso, Castle Rock, Kalama, and Woodland each enforce their own municipal traffic codes within city limits.